Sometime bad breath can be a minor annoyance. You pop a sugarless breath mint, or brush your teeth more carefully, and in a few hours, the issue has passed. Your Columbia, TN dental team knows that this type of odor problem is likely to pass without more serious problems. However, there are some causes of bad breath that signal deeper trouble. Your daily habits can have a significant effect on your breath, for the positive or the negative. If you are baffled by bad breath origins, a visit to our office can help.
Bad Breath Can Be Caused By Your Diet (Annoyance)
Some foods are naturally more fragrant than others. If you can smell it before you eat it, it is also likely to affect your breath. Onions, pungent cheeses, garlic and curry are some examples of foods with strong odors. Not only can the foods themselves have odors, but foods from the allium family (this includes onions and garlic) break down into sulfur compounds during digestion, which impacts your breath in the hours afterwards.
Bad Breath Can Be Caused by Unhealthy Gums
It can be hard to spot the very early stages of gum disease at home, which is why it is so important to maintain a regular schedule of checkups and cleanings. Gingivitis, the early stage of gum disease, can often be arrested and even reversed with careful brushing and flossing. If gum disease progresses to periodontal disease, infection can cause your breath to become unpleasant.
Bad Breath Can Be Caused by a Cavity
An infected tooth will impact your breath. When the protective outer enamel layer of a tooth is breached, infection can take hold. As the infection progresses, healthy portions of the tooth are destroyed, resulting in an increasingly large cavity. Small cavities can be treated with a tooth-colored filling, and large cavities may require root canal treatment to save the tooth. Our goal is to avoid the extraction of a compromised tooth, by timely treatment while the cavity is small.
For the Health of Your Smile, Don’t Ignore Bad Breath
If your breath bothers you on an ongoing basis, don’t mask the issue with gum or mints. Your dentist can help you determine the cause of the issue, and what to do about. To learn more, schedule an appointment by calling Creekside Family Dental Care in Columbia, TN, today at (931) 388–3384.
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